Engine valve-gear.



10.772.535 PATENTED 00T. 18, 1904..l

E. A'. EIX.

ENGINE VALVE GEAR. APPLITION FILED ULY l, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATE-NTBDV00T-K13, 1904.

v 4El lAll Y' ENGINE VALVE GEAR.

APPLIUATION FILED JULY 1r, 190s.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N o MODEL.

nitnsyeg# y UNITED v STATES- Patented october 18, 1904.

PATENT Querce.

ENGINE VALVEHGEAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 772,535, dated october 1e, 1904.-

Application iiled July l, 1903. Serial No. 163,837. (Nol model.) i

To @ZZ whom it 77mg/ concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. RIX, va citi` Zen-of the United States, residing in the city j and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Engine Valve-Gears; and l hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact descrip'tionloi:l y

the same. v Y

My Invention relates to a new and improved valve-motion for use 1n reciprocating engines that compress or expand an elasticfiuid.

It consists of one or more circular valveseats having ports at opposite sides ofthe center connecting-with opposite ends ofalcylinder and a rotatable guided valveiitting'each seat and having inletand outlet ports which are successively brought to register with the ports of the valve-seat and which ports remain fully open the longest possible time. Supply` v land exhaust passages connect with. the ports controlled by the valve.

My inventiony also comprises details of construction all of which will be more fully eX-v plained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichf Figure 1 is a sectional elevation Vof an engine, showing a valve driving-gear. Fig.A '2 is a section through w .7c of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a section. at right angles with Figli. Fig. 4 is a section through y y'of Fig; l3. Fig. 5 is a section through of Fig; 3. Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9 are diagrams showing various relative positions of the ports. Fig. l0 is a modiiication,

' of reduced' size, to be hereinafter referred to.

rlhe ordinary typeof slide-valve'movement employed in such engines. is driven from an eccentric or drag link or from a reduced motion taken from the connecting-rod or cross' head or piston-rod, so that the valve reciprocates a small distance compared to the motion of the piston, the result being that the ports are fully open but an instant and are always either opening or closing, which has a disturbing effect upon the elastic fluid passing through-them.

In the ordinary reciprocating slide-valve motion limitations are soon reached inthe matter of compression'or expansion because the backward movement harmonizes With'the forward movement, and an early cut-o, for

jvalve engines, because of the continual wire- `drawing effect of the valve.

My new slide-valve, however, has none of the limitations of the ordinary slide-valve. ,The valve movement insteadof being from 'one-fourthto one-eighth of the piston-stroke is about three times the piston-stroke, or a diiference oi' from twelve to twenty -I'our times the movement of an ordinary slide-valve. 'The' ports instead of full open Jfor an instant are open during substantially the entire stroke of the Valve. The compression or expansion Ais unlimited instead of limited, and the speed may be great. Y Moreover, the movement is continuous and in one direction andat a constant'angular velocity.

My drawings show an apparatus for the compression of4 gases and may be described as follows:

A is the shaft; B, the crank; C, the connecting-rod, and D the. cylinder withheads, which are similar to ordinary engines. On

*the side of the cylinder is a circular vface 3,

which is planed off parallel tothe axis of the engine and the surface scraped. Two'large ports i and 5 connect to opposite ends of the cylinder-bore and permit passage of the gases both before and after compression. Finished and scraped to the .face 3 is a rotating valve 6, that is guided at-thecenter by the hollow tube 7 on the outer'endV and by the step fitting in the recess8 on the inner end. The

whole is inclosed in a case 9, which is bolted tothe surface 3 and has a stuffing-box 1() to pack the hollow tube 7. The valve has an inlet-port 11, reaching from to t band which is connected to the source of the. elastic-fluid supply through the Vpassage 12 and the hollow tube 7.

The valve 6 has a discharge-.passage 13,

` which connects with the space 14 within the valve-casing, which has an outlet 15 to con# duct the compressed iiuids wherever may be desired. Rotative motion is given the'valve byl means of the chain 16 and equal gears 17 17 a, connecting the valve shaft or tube to the the line N of the port 5.

crank shaft. The valve rotation and the crank-shaft rotation must be exactly alike. There are many other' ways of reproducing the crank-motion on the valve-shaft; but the chain method appears to be the most desirable. Likewise in engines of long stroke there may be a valve at each end of the cylinder, as shown in Fig. 10, instead of one, as shown, and the valve or valves need not necessarily be placed on the cylinder sides. They may be at any convenient angle instead of parallel to the axis of the engine. The form shown, however, is simplest and best for short-stroke engines. The nature of the valve-surfaces is not material, provided a proper tight contact is made and the material is such as will not cut or wear unduly. Neither is it material that the inlet and outlet ports in the valve should be constructed as shown. They may be reversed and the fluids discharged through the hollow valve-shaft and admitted into the valve-casing through the passage 15. In such case the relative dimensions and positions of the valve-openings must be changed accordingly.

VIf the valve 6 be now superimposed on the face 3 and rotated in the direction of the arrow (it will operate equally well rotating in the opposite direction if the ports be changed accordingly) and the edge bof the port 11 be line and line with the edge c of the cylinderporti4, the line a will cover the line 0 of the port 5. When the piston begins a downward stroke, the port 11 is opened, and the fluid will be drawn into the cylinder through 4 and the port 5 will be closed. The port4 will be quickly opened fully and will remain so until at the end of the stroke, when the line a has closed the port 4 at the line L. The line will then have reached the line N, and the cylinder-port 5 begin to open when the piston begins to make its upward stroke, and when has reached c again the three hundred and sixty degrees has been completed and fluid admitted throughout the whole stroke to both ends of the cylinder.

For the compressing stroke we have as follows: When the piston begins its downward movement, the line K of the discharge-port 13 has cleared the line L of the cylinder-port 4, and the fluid beneath the piston is confined and being compressed, and this will go on until the line CZ of the discliarge-port 13 passes The fluid will then be forced from the cylinder through port 5 and through 13 until at the end of the stroke the line K coincides with the line O and compression is about to take place on the upstroke. The same operation then takes place for the upper port 4 until the cycle is complete.

It is evident that the line Z of the port 13 is a fixture; but the port may be lengthened or shortened at the opposite end K as the discharge pressure desired is diminished or increased, and this pressure may be varied from Zero to infinity, which cannot be done with any form of single reciprocating slide-valve.

Any one valve is generally fixed for a particular pressure; biita number of valves may be supplied giving various pressures, or the length of the port 13 may be varied by a simple adjusting mechanism, so that one valve may act for several pressures.

By reversing the movement of the compressed gases within the apparatus the engine will become an elastic-fiuid niotor and the fluid be expanded as desired, and no mechanical change is necessary to change the chai'- acter of the engine. By this character of valve long cylinder-ports are avoided, thus avoiding considerable clearance.

It can readily be seen that for high speed the large ports and long intervals of full opening make an ideal construction. An advantage of this construction lies in the reduced wear of the valve faces and seat because of the continuous movement in one direction. This produces a continuous floating contact, which is characterized by the riding` of the valve upon a thin film of fluid lying between the two faces. This cffectis lost in reciprocating valves which come to a state of rest at the end of cach reciprocation and in which there is greater wear at the ends than on other parts.

The apparatus herein described is especially designed for elastic-fluid -compressing cngines, especially for that class known as aircompressors, and the relative length and disposition of the valve-ports are important, inasmuch as the inlet-valve is made of such length that it iemains open during substantially the entire piston movement and during the entire suction-stroke of the piston, so that the cylinder is fully filled with air of the normal pressure at which it is received. The exhaust-passage in the valve is so disposed with relation to the cylinder-port that it remains closed during such portion of the expelling movement of the piston as will allow the air upon that side of the piston to be compressed to a point equal to or greater than that of the receiver into which the air is te be forced befoi'e said valve is opened.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters latent, is-

1. The combination with a cylinder and a piston reciprocable therein,of a circular valveseat, with ports communicating with the cylinder ends, a constantly-rotating circular disk valve fitting the seat and having ports adapted to register with those of the seat, a central tubular valve-stern communicating with the inlet-port, an exterior discharge-chamber, and means for constantly rotating the valve in unison with the reciprocations of the piston.

2. The combination with a reciprocating piston, a cylinder in which it operates, and a valve-casing, of a flat circular valve-seat havlOO ing ports through opposite sides and communicating'with the cylinder, a rotatable d isk valve having a fiat face fitting the valve-seat and revoluble thereon', said valve having ports adapted to register with those of said seats, a central, revoluble valve-stem connecting with the inlet-port of the valve, and means for con- Stantly rotating the valve-disk in unison with the reciprocations of the piston, said valve-casble valve-stem fixed to the valve and connecting with the inlet-port thereof, and means by which the Valve is constantly rotated in unison with the reciprocations of the piston, to connect the ports of the valve with those of the valve-seat.

4. A cylinder, a piston reciprocating therein, a fiat'circular valve-seat with ports at opposite sides of the center, connecting with the cylinder ends, a guided revoluble valve -fitting the seat, and having segmental peripheral ports'Which register With those of the seat, the valve inlet-port having such length that it remains fully open substantially during the entire stroke, and the outlet-por-t remaining closed to cause compression yWithin the cylinder before said port is opened.

5. A cylinder and a piston reciprocating therein, a flat circular valve-seat having ports at opposite sides of the center connecting Withl the cylinder ends, a valve fitting and revoluble upon the seat, said valve having segmental peripheral ports, and inlet and outlet passages which are connected alternately With opposite ends of the cylinder by the rotation of the valve, said valve-ports having such relative length and position that the inlet-port remains ful-l open substantially during the entire drawing in of the charge, and the exhaust-port remains closed until'compression is produced within. the cylinder.

l 6. A cylinder and a piston reciprocating therein, a fiat circular valve-seat having ports length as to remain inregister with the cor-H responding cylinder-"port during substantially the full stroke of the piston, and the exhaustport so located' with reference to the inlet,

that it remains closed to insure compression Within the cylinder before the opening of the exhaust.

at opposite sides of the center connecting with the cylinder ends, a valve fitting and revoluble upon the seat, and having peripheral inlet and outlet ports, a tubular shaft and inlet-passage connectedl With the inlet-port of the valve, a discharge-passage in the valve-chamber With which the exhaust-port connects, sprockets upon both valve-shaft and crank-shaft, and a chain through which motionis transmitted to rotate the vvalve in unison with the rotation of the crank-shaft.

8. A cylinder With a piston reciprocating therein, a flat circular valve-seat having ports on opposite sides connecting with the cylinder ends, a valve fitting and revoluble upon said seat,` and having inlet and discharge ports which register alternately With the opposite cylinder-ports, acasing inclosing the valve and having a passage through which the discharge is effected, a tube connected centrally with the valve and opening into the inlet-port thereof,

. a stufiing-box in the casing through which the tube vpasses and by Which it is guided, and v means carried by the tube whereby it and the valve are'rotated in unison with the reciprocations of the piston.

9. The combination with a cylinder reciprocating piston operatingl therein, and having inlet and discharge ports at opposite sides of the center, of avalve-gear mechanism including a circular valve-seat, a rotatable circular disk' valve fitting said seat, a central tubul ar valve-stem, an exterior discharge-chamber,` and means for constantly rotating the valve in unison With the reciprocations of the piston, saidcylinder and valve having registering ports and said tubular valve-stem communicating with the inlet-port and said discharge-chamber connecting with the outletport.

i 10. In a machine of the character described, th'e combination of a cylinder having inlet and 'discharge ports connecting With the cylinder and a IOO ends, a piston reciprocable between said ports,

a valve-gear mechanismincluding a rotatable disk valve fitting fiatwise against the cylinder, and 1 means for constantly rotating the valve said valve having a tubular stem Which connects With said-inlet-port. Y In Witness whereof I have'hereunto set my hand. Y

' EDWARD AAA'. RIX. f 'Witnessesz t- S. H. NoURsE,

.Inssni C. vBR'oDIE 

